Chapter 45: Danny POV

I was still wiping the tears that were coming down when Mey-Rin ran into me - literally. At that moment I was about as graceful as a newborn giraffe and stumbled back, but caught Mey-Rin as she tipped backwards, back toward the now closed door.

"OH! Mr. Hyde!" she squealed as I helped her back to her feet. I saw the blush spread across her face and sighed. Oh dear. The incident made me recall something similar - a month maybe into my stay at with the Phantomhives: the Maid had been pressing Sebastian's shirts once and I had been passing as she had sighed, very obviously enjoying her task. The 'you smell so good, Mister Sebastian,' and the giggle after made even me blush, and we had not moved into a relationship yet.

"Are you quite alright?" I asked as she brushed her skirts out. She nodded and I moved to open the door.

"Mr. Hyde?" I turned and she was shoving her glasses up. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and I was surprised how soft her brown eyes were when she opened them. "Ah, better," she muttered. She met my gaze and she took in my face for a moment and then settled on my eyes. "May I ask why you were crying so?"

I was taken aback. "I…. How did you know?"

"I'm only blind when I wear my glasses, not with other things." She sighed and moved a bit closer. "I don't like celebrating much about myself either. There has been many times I have plumb forgotten about my own birthday - I'm not sure I ever knew," she muttered, trailing off. "Ah, no matter. About you. You are a curious man, aren't you?"

I smiled, if she only knew how true that one observation was. "I don't mind celebrating my birthday," I said finally. "It's just also… I had a twin."

Her eyes went round and then she frowned. "And he… he didn't make it?"

"There was…. No."

She was quiet for a moment and then placed a hand on my shoulder and patted it. "You have a wonderful family now, Mr. Hyde. The Master and the Lady are so kind to us, and the young Master and young Mistress always keep us on our toes." She looked at me for a moment more. "I have never worried about their loyalty to us as much as they don't need to give it to us. We are their servants, but they are very kind to us."

She sighed and lifted her glasses off her head and looked at them for a moment. "I don't see much sometimes, but I can see that there is more to you then you let on. If," she paused and looked back over me. "If you ever need a listening ear on how… to deal with the isolation, I'm here."

And with that she put her glasses on and turned back the way she was going, picking up the basket and walked back toward the garden. I continued on my way through the kitchen and downstairs, walking up the stairs and smiled as Sebastian opened the door. He placed a hand on my waist and pulled me down the hall to the small observatory.

"I have had a feeling that Mey-Rin has suspected your deception for a while. She has asked about your," he leaned down and whispered, "delicate items to wash. I told her you rather liked washing those."

"It's been a year of me doing that, she only now is suspicious?"

He ducked his head and smiled. "Well, for a little while. I have been fending it off. It's rather easy to do." He chuckled and stroked my cheek. He kissed my forehead and pulled me in. "You smell a bit different."

"I was crying," I muttered. He sighed and I wrapped my arms around him. I just wanted to do nothing but stay with his arms around me. "I'm not anymore," I added, looking up at him.

"You may cry more yet. The young Master is rather sweet with his present. I may have to really rethink my own present to compete," he chuckled. "Ah, they have finished decorating."

I frowned. "Decorating? I'm a Tutor, no need to get all fancy."

He cupped my chin and I closed my eyes for a moment, his fingers dancing on my skin. "You have done so much for this family, my dear. Saved the young Master, delivered the young Mistress, kept the servants in line and laughing, and, perhaps most importantly, you have rather affected me. I'm not going to say that you have totally changed my rather wicked ways," he said, his eyes dancing. "But you are able to temper my needs to hurry the Master to his end. I have actually bent my Contract as much as I could so I could keep you here."

"Oh, such sweet words," I said, sliding my hands up his chest and gripping his jacket labels. "I don't think you will have to worry about your present. The young Master isn't taking care of me when I want to eat every Soul I see. Besides the Earl, and perhaps Mey-Rin, no one knows or suspects I am a woman. And I certainly will never welcome them into my bed," I added, kissing him slowly. "You said something about decorations? Shall we go and have a lovely time with our chosen family?"

"Promise not to cry too much?'

"I will not promise you that," I said sliding out of his warm embrace. "I'm still a woman at heart it seems. So, shall we?"

He opened the door and ushered me out, and we walked across the lower level, walking into the Ballroom, which hardly was used, except for large gatherings. Sebastian smiled and opened the doors, standing beside me as the whole Phantomhive household cheered and clapped as I came in. I could see that the Lady had a hand in decorating the overly cheery and pink and yellow colored room. There were several tables of food and even one with presents on it.

"It ain't much," Baldroy said as he came over to me. "But we have tried our best to make it nice."

"Oh, Baldroy, you did a wonderful job," I said giving him a small, manly hug. I looked over at the food and smiled at him. "And look at that cake! I can't wait to try a piece."

"Not yet, Mister Hyde! You will spoil your dinner!" the young Master said, running and placing his hand on my arm. I heard the Earl chuckle and the Lady give a small laugh as they came over.

"We enjoy celebrating each of our members of our household. Sometimes we have to remember the good times to bare the bad ones," the Earl said. He indicated the table behind them and walked me to the head of the table, even so I protested and even Sebastian smirked and gently pressed me into the chair. The Earl pushed a napkin into my hand. "Don't force him to make you have a good time," he whispered.

I nodded and smiled. Oh I knew all too well how not to make Sebastian happy. He was a rather good looking Demon in his true form, but the temper sometimes was a rather damper on any mood. The night passed as the food was served, and everyone ate at the table - Earl and Lady, to the Maid and Cook. The young Master chatted with Finnian and Sebastian helped feed the young Mistress so the Lady would be able to enjoy the food. I sat back and smiled; many nights around the Hyde family table were filled with chatter and we would often invite the workers to our table as well during picking season.

"Ready for presents?" the young Master said as he came around and held out a small box. I nodded and took it from him.

"Of course," I said, trying to keep any of the emotions of my memories out of my voice. I opened the box and pulled at the wrappings, and there was a picture of the young Master, smiling, looking very grown up and handsome. I picked it up and under that was one of him holding his sister, smiling at her. Another picture was of the Phantomhive family. Next as Mey-Rin, Bardroy, and Finnian. Then was one of Sebastian. And last there was a photo of all of them, smiling, relaxed, and forever frozen in the photograph.

"Oh, Vincent," I said as I looked at them once more. "How special! How in the world did you get everyone to do this?"

"We took a few trips," Finnian said, as he brought a plant to set before me. "But the young Master made sure we got it right."

My cheeks hurt as I continued to thank them all for their generous gifts. Mey-Rin had bought me new cufflinks and Baldroy gave me a new chain for my pocket watch. Last the Earl and Lady handed me a box as well. I undid the bow, and laid it out next to the plant and picked the top off the hat box.

"Oh, oh my," I said as I lifted an ash grey trilby hat. It had a fine band of black satin and was finely crafted.

"I noticed when you go out, you don't wear a hat," the Lady said. She handed me a small paper bag and smiled softly. "And although some," she cut her eyes to the Earl, "feel you should cut your hair, I think this will go nicely with your brown hair."

I opened the bag and pulled out a thin ribbon of silvery blue. I blinked back the tears that were rising. "Thank you Lady Phantomhive. It is very… beautiful."

"Ah, cake?" Baldroy asked, saving the moment from me becoming a sobbing mess. I felt Sebastian move beside me and his hand slide over my shoulder and gave me a small squeeze. We all nodded and moved to sit on the chairs and couches, Mey-Rin and Baldroy clearing the table.

"It's good, isn't it, Mister Hyde?" the young Master asked as he sat beside me and put another forkful of cake into his mouth.

"Mind your manners," I replied, and smiled as he gave me an eye roll and chewed. "And yes, Mr. Baldroy did a wonderful job." Baldroy shrugged his shoulder and nodded as he walked out with an armload of dishes.

Soon we were once more saying goodnight and I gently hugged each of them once more, and they made their way to bed as Sebastian insisted he would finish cleaning the remaining dishes and would move the furniture to their proper places.

I picked up the young Master's gift and sighed, flipping through them once more. "You look very handsome in this picture," I said as I leaned over the chair and looked at Sebastian. He turned and gave me a small smile. "Is this the only picture you ever took with the Earl?"

He brushed his hands together and came over to sit on the edge of the chair and took the photo from me. "No, there are a few. The Master wanted a picture for each year we spent, saying it was both a memory and a torture for me." He gave a breathy laugh, "He was a stubborn young man as he grew."

I smiled and eyed him. "'Was?'"

"Yes, he is a bit better, not much, mind you. But a bit." He checked his watch and as he clicked it shut he patted my back. "I haven't given you your present."

"I wasn't going to mention it in such company," I said, reaching up and stroking his face. "I was hoping we could do some dancing and a little more."

His eyes sparkled and he pulled me up and close to him. "Oh we will dance, but first I have a surprise - well two. The first is up in your room. Shall I meet you there in a few minutes, or wait for you to come down and meet me by the front door?"

I kissed him gently and winked at him. "I'll come to you."

I hurried up the stairs, dreaming of seeing the dress I had glimpsed of that afternoon. As I opened my door to the bedroom that had quickly become not just mine, I was not disappointed. The red dress had a low back and a small train, not as full as the pale blue one he had given me for the King's Valentine's dance. I pulled off my clothes as I walked around it and marveled at how I could even wear such a dress while pretending to be a man in the house. But it wasn't the first dress I had worn - but I had only worn them for Sebastian, and every time I did, I wondered again how it would feel to wear dresses, surely not as fancy, around the Manor everyday.

I slipped the dress on, taking care of tying the bow so it sat along my waist, and pulled my gloves on. I opened my drawer and pulled out my jewelry case, and picked out the small diamond studs that Sebastian had come back with from one of the trips with the Earl. I frowned a bit; all that I needed was a simple necklace. I made sure to place all the staff and the family and walked down the stairs, relishing how the fine silk flowed over my stocking clad legs, a much different feel than the usual pants I wore everyday. I tugged on my gloves again and swept the skirt around me as I rounded the corner and took a few steps down to meet Sebastian.

"My goodness, you are an Angel in Red," Sebastian said as he took a step up the stairs. I blushed and walked a few more steps, each one being matched by Sebastian. We met with the middle stair between us and he took the step first, holding out his right arm so I could slip my left one under it, and leaned into him as we walked down together. He was wearing his usual tailcoat except he wore a hint of red in his pocket. He paused at the door and pulled a small case from his jacket and opened it, slipping a necklace that had a diamond cut like a droplet from the case. He walked around me and placed it gently on my neck. He pulled the small ribbon from my hair and ran his fingers through my now free flowing hair and wrapped his arms around me, sliding his hands down over my breasts and settling on my waist. He shifted and kissed my cheek.

"Now, my second gift, a lovely night of high class theatre and then dancing."

I slid my hands over his and laced my fingers into his. "I will never stop you from trying to celebrate any occasion."

He chuckled and spun me around and opened the door. "Your carriage awaits, my Lady."